emerald chapter newsletter
Meeting: Thursday, April 10
Location: Eugene Eagles 275, Irving Road, Eugene
Directions: Take Beltline to the NW Expressway. Go north on the NW Expressway to the first cross street (about a block or so), which is Irving, and turn right (east). The Eagles is the first turn (again about a block) on your left (north). There is parking on the south and west side of the building. The entrance is on the west side. When you enter the lobby, you will sign in and push a button which will enable them to open the inner door that leads to the bar and main dining room. Our private room is directly across from the bar.
Time: 6:00pm (social), 6:30pm (dinner), 7:15pm (program)
Speaker: Dr. Cassandra Moseley, Ecosystem Workforce Program, Institute for a Sustainable
Environment, University of Oregon
Topic: Ethnicity and working conditions of forest workers
The stereotypical forest workers are white men who live in rural communities. These men, we tend to believe, earn enough to support middle-class families. In reality, the forestry workforce is multi-ethnic and, for some, the working conditions are poor. This talk will explore differences in working conditions of loggers and forestry service workers, and differences between Hispanic and white workers.
other upcoming meeings
Date: May 7-9
Topic: OSAF Annual Meeting - Building the Future with Oregon's Forests: Policies and Tools for Emerging Issues
Location: Valley River Inn, Eugene
Hosted by: Emerald Chapter
Date: Thursday, June 5
Topic: Potluck picnic and tour of Thompson's Mill near Shedd, Oregon
Speaker: Doug Crispin, Park Ranger and Historian, Thompson's (Boston) Mill, Oregon Parks and Recreation Department
foresters' fund donations needed
The OSAF Annual Meeting includes a Foresters' Fund Silent Auction and Raffle. This is always a very popular part of each annual meeting. If you, your business or friends, would like to donate an item for either portion of the Foresters' Fund fundraising efforts this year, please contact Ted Reiss at 541-607-7299. Items such as handmade art, business logo clothing/tools, gift certificates for time/work, purchased items, etc. are all good donations to this effort. All donations are fully tax deductible and will help to make this year's efforts a great success. The Foresters' Fund is utilized all over the nation by local chapters for forestry education programs of all kinds. Local chapters in Oregon were granted monies to support three projects in 2006 alone. Your help would be very much appreciated.
Please send your donations to Ted by May 1.
march meeting recap
Dr. Peter Daugherty, Deputy Chief ODF Private Forests program and Emerald Chapter member, talked about the irrationality of fire suppression on National Forests without hazard reduction treatments. The talk was based on results from a study he did with Gary Snider and Dr. Brent Wood while he was Associate Professor of Forest Management and Ecological Economics at the Northern Arizona University. These results have been published in the Journal of Forestry (December 2006).
Peter defined economic rationality as a decision which results in the optimum allocation of scarce resources so that social benefits are maximized. The study Peter and his group conducted asked the question: Can we afford not to do the fuels treatment?
The study area covered 9 million acres of ponderosa pine and dry mixed-conifer forests in Arizona and New Mexico. Fire has been excluded for over 100 years in these areas, resulting in overly-dense conditions. These conditions, exacerbated by drought, have experienced increased bark beetle mortality as well as increased size and frequency of stand-replacing crown fires. Fifty-eight percent of the study area was at moderate risk and 33% at high risk of catastrophic fire. Approximately $1.3 billion have been spent preparing for and suppressing catastrophic fires in the study area. In contrast, $265 million have been spent on fuels treatments.
The study looked out 40 years using a 4% discount rate and made the assumption that fuels could be treated in order to reduce wild fire suppression costs and eliminate crown fires in conflagrations larger than 100 acres. Costs for initial stand treatments and maintenance under-burning every ten years were included; these treatments would shift the study area forests to low-risk fuel types. The data used at the time showed wildfire suppression costs at $377/ac and $22/ac for minimal after-fire rehabilitation. More recent cost studies have shown suppression costs nearly twice as high.
Varying rates of treatment as well as amount of area treated were examined (1/3 to 1/2 of the forest). Various lag scenarios were built to examine how much treatment would need to be done before the benefits of lower fire costs would begin to accrue. Break-even treatment costs were examinedÑhow much could be spent on fuel treatments without losing against the present value of the current policy (defined as the Òdo nothingÓ alternative). This conservative study assumed that there was no damage from catastrophic fires to either structures or ecological values and that a restored forest has the same value as a burned landscape. No timber values were included. This approach was taken so that the results would be simple to understand and hard to dispute.
The break-even results showed that $238/ac to $601/ac could be spent on fuels treatment, depending on the rate of treatment and the lag time before the treatments result in the reduction of catastrophic fires. These numbers led to the conclusion that continuing the current policy of fighting large catastrophic fires without doing fuels treatment is not a rational social choice.
Peter posed the question: So why is the current policy difficult to change? One big barrier is the rise in total costs at the beginning when you need to invest in fuels treatments and catastrophic fire suppression at the same time until the fuels treatments are done over a large enough area to reduce the large fires; you have increased costs and delayed benefits. Secondly, the entire forest industry infrastructure is now gone from the area. For new industry to invest, it must be confident in a stable supply of raw material. However, there is currently sufficient distrust between environmentalists and the forest industry that raw material supply resulting from forest fuel treatments remains uncertain. Thirdly, fire-fighting is big business, with an entrenched culture of suppression that is resistant to change.
The consequences of these barriers are a lack of innovation, disincentives to existing firms that might be able to work on fuels jobs and provide living-wage jobs, and fuel treatment costs kept high. Peter pointed out that we see similar situations in our society where, for example, we spend money on emergency medical treatments but are unwilling to invest in preventative health care. Another example is the expenditure of large amounts of money on flood relief while not doing proper levee maintenance.
from the chair
We are getting close to our May meeting. Don't forget to register early; early-bird rates are good through April 11. Our chapter is putting a lot of work into, and it will be an excellent meeting.
Please send the names of journalists from our local area that you would recommend might make use of our Expert Database. You can send them to Lori Razor at the NW Office or to me, and I will forward them to her. The database has taken a lot of work, and Lori has been testing it on journalists, some of whom have made important suggestions that are being incorporated into the system. The database is expected to be operational in April.
At the recent OSAF Executive meeting, Clark Seely reported on the latest Council meeting in Bethesda. There are five new members on the Council this year. Normally 1/3 of the Council is new each year. The Council's top priority is member services, and they are working on implementing what they learned from member surveys, focus groups, and leader interviews. The details of these surveys are available to anyone interested. Two national position statements are due to expire: clear-cutting and protection of endangered species on private land; these will be updated. Two others will be reconsidered in June. The SAF task force on climate change will complete their report in the next month or two. This will be a valuable reference, and our Council will use it to decide on a position paper. Our council is also advocating a by-law change on electronic voting for state societies that will be forthcoming. Clark also mentioned that National President Tom Thompson is reinvigorating the National Communications Committee, which has been dormant for two years. They are currently searching for a staff person for this committee. Work continues on the sale of the headquarters property in Bethesda. If all goes well, the closing will be next fall or winter. Clark welcomes input on any of these topics or others, and you can call or e-mail him. His blog will be up before May.
In other OSAF news, weekend wood-cuttings led by Bob Alverts are now up and running, and wood is being delivered to flood victims. If you are interested in helping, contact Bob Alverts or me.
In Emerald Chapter news, I am sorry to report the passing of Ken Brauner, a great friend of the SAF who made countless donations to events over the years and whose art and perspectives on forest activities brought delight to us all. Our chapter and OSAF both made donations in his memory to his selected charity, the Life Lutheran School at Grace Lutheran Church.
saf membership recognition
We are updating our membership service records and awarding service year pins at our monthly meetings to members who have crossed ten-year milestones. The following members received pins marking their years of service at the March meeting:
Ten Years: Roger Fearn, Rick Rogers
Twenty Years: Dale Claassen, Fred Sperry, Peter Daugherty
Thirty Years: Sue Bowers
Forty Years: Dick Bowers, Steve Cafferata, Steve Woodard
In some cases these presentations were a few years overdue. It is our intention to bring these awards up-to-date and recognize all our members for their service to the Society. We will continue this process at future meetings. Don't hesitate to let us know if we miss you, as our records are not perfect.
...and finally...
If you have an item you would like to include in an upcoming issue of the Gazette, please drop a line to Angelia Kegley ().